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The experience and the condition of the vulnerability of young immigrant women with NEET status are not acknowledged in both research and social policy. Within the extreme variety gathered under the term NEET, this present article aims at exploring the experience of a group of young non-EU migrant women aged between 18 and 31 living in Italy, who at the time of their participation in this study, were not engaged in education, employment, or training. Nineteen semi-structured interviews have been collected involving young women who migrated from Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Morocco, Pakistan, and Tunisia, in most cases through family reunification. Thematic analysis carried out on interview transcripts highlights the complexity and richness of the stories and experiences narrated by participants, composing a heterogeneous group marked by different levels of vulnerability and resilience capabilities, language skills, and involvement in the goal of finding a job. The perception of vulnerability that emerges from the women interviewed refers mainly to the relational dimension of life, which appears to be characterized by loneliness, a sense of isolation, and feelings of extraneousness (not belonging) with respect to an external context. Implications for policies aimed at this specific group of foreign women are discussed.

Il passaggio dal continente di emigrazione al continente di immigrazione è stato un enorme cambiamento per l'Europa. Dal 1945, decine di milioni di immigrati sono arrivati in Europa occidentale, prima di altre regioni europee, dopo dei quattro angoli del mondo. Così si è verificata un'enorme trasformazione sociale: la nascita (definitiva) di società multinazionali, multirazziali, multiculturali, multireligiose. Per molto tempo i governi e le aziende hanno voluto che gli immigrati fossero solo temporanei, per avere una massa di lavoratori precari, poco integrati e vulnerabili. Questa rivendicazione, tornata con forza negli ultimi anni, ha incontrato l'orgogliosa resistenza delle popolazioni immigrate, che hanno creato un sempre maggiore radicamento sociale. Lo stesso vale per l'analoga rivendicazione dei poteri istituiti di sottoporre le popolazioni e i lavoratori migranti a uno sfruttamento differenziato e ad ogni tipo di discriminazione, che sono state affrontate con lotte e ribellioni. Per decenni, nel fondo minaccioso della grande crisi irrisolta del 2008, questo conflitto si è aggravato fino a trasformare la “questione immigrazione” in una questione militare, che deve essere risolta con le marine militari e la polizia di frontiera. Questo articolo spiega che c’è tanta cosa in gioco: o torniamo a un modello di società e stato basato sulla più brutale oppressione “razziale” e di classe, oppure passiamo a una società definitivamente liberata da queste e altre forme di oppressione

In the last twenty-five years, the family entity has been imposed as a crucial actor in understanding migratory strategies and behaviors, the study of the integration into the host society, the analysis of the impact of migrations for the sending and receiving countries and, last but not least, the evaluation of migratory policies and practices. This article recalls the main theoretical prospects that put specific emphasis on family; identifies some “ideological traps” that frequently influence family immigration policies and practices; then develops some considerations about the advantages and disadvantages of family migration for both the sending and the receiving countries; finally, it devotes a specific analysis to the family reunification issue, describing how this right is ruled by the EU legislation. In the conclusion, the Author observes that, notwithstanding the fact that family constitutes a crucial actor in the process of human mobility, both the legislation and the receiving societies’ expectations concerning migration continues to be founded on an individualistic conception. Among other consequences of this asymmetry, there is the fact that family reunion is not always the best solution if the well-being of all family members and the life chances of migrants’ offspring are taken into account.